What Do You Do for Fun?

Yes, you concerned readers, I’m still playing my baritone saxophone. I’m taking lessons every two weeks via Skype. No travel time! I’ve upped my playing to 4-6 hours a week. More structured, too: scales, chords, simple rhythms. I still lose my place improvising, a lot. But I’m less in my head, thank you very much, what a relief. I’m paying more attention to my sound. I love the sound of the bottom (the bari sax is very low). I’ve changed my mouthpiece and reeds.

Devoting time to self-care – pretty fascinating in its own right. A stock question when I talk with people: what do you do for fun? Quite fascinating, try it. Knitting, dancing, jogging, singing, grandkids, soccer, hiking, needlepoint, painting, riding horses, writing, yoga, traveling. My ability to predict what a person does for fun is marginally better than my Lotto predictions. Some say I don’t have time for fun. Or, I’m ready to retire, don’t know what I’ll do. This makes me sad. Very sad.

Self-care is time-consuming. At least an hour a day for most, more with a chronic illness. I’m convinced that the secret to my success is self-care. I still can accomplish a ton, but diet, exercise, music have top priority. Yes, it helps that I’m retired – not a boss, not an employee. I’m not worried about money. Many people use a coach for career stuff. I recommend that you use a coach for self-care if it’s not a priority. It’s like having a financial advisor if you’re buried in debt. It’s tough to shift habits and balance activities. All music, no exercise wouldn’t work for me. My coach is Cynthia Meyer at Second Wind Movement, also via video call. What would I do without multimodal communication?

As we age, some functions slide, some grow. I’m determined to maintain, on average, for as long as possible and have fun doing it. OK. I needed that pep talk. Thanks for listening.